To ask what guidance schools have received regarding when to ask close contacts/a class/a year group to isolate?

[munchbunch12]

This is not a teacher bashing thread; I really appreciate the hard work they do, especially considering the lack of PPE and social distancing.

At DS’s school, both the year above and the year below him have been sent home to self-isolate as there has been 1 positive test in each year. Each year has 9 classes of around 30 children each, so 538 healthy (at the moment) children are now not in school. The school is in a local lockdown area, so they already wear masks in all communal areas (but not lessons), sanitise their hands regularly and only move classrooms when absolutely necessary (PE and Art), and they have staggered start/end and lunchtimes and got rid of break time, so they don’t have much contact with children outside of their class.

What guidance/instructions have schools received regarding who needs to isolate when there is a positive test result, have they been told they must isolate entire years? Or are the instructions so vague that Head teachers have to decide for themselves, and naturally, as with any group of people, some will be more cautious than others.

Having read a few threads on here, it seems some schools just ask the ‘close contacts’ of the child who has tested positive to isolate, some ask the class, and others, like my son’s school ask the entire year.

AIBU to wish there was a national directive stating what schools should do, so it doesn’t vary wildly from school to school?

I think schools contact PHE if they have a confirmed case and are told what to do.

Ours seem to making it up as they go along, oh sorry ‘constantly adapting and learning from best practice’.

A risk assessment is carried out by public health who decide - Scotland

Schools contact Public Health England, or more recently a DfE helpline who decide.

It’s not up to the head.

The whole of Year 7 at my son's school were sent home because of a positive case in the year. We were told the school acted on advice from PHE.

As above, it is PHE that make those decisions.

[ quote]Or are the instructions so vague that Head teachers have to decide for themselves, and naturally, as with any group of people, some will be more cautious than others. [/ quote]

Much of the guidance is vague or contradictory.

When a case is identified, heads contact Public Health England for advice, much of which is vague or contradictory to the guidance.

I’m an HT in Scotland. It’s Public Health Scotland that make the decision. Thankfully!

Interestingly though, a school in my federation had a positive case and couldn't get hold of PHE so sent the whole year group home and had to make the decision themselves . Spoke to PHE the next day and they said that was the right thing to do, but it is being left to heads where PHE are overwhelmed

I tested positive last week (secondary teacher) my head contacted PHE for advice and asked me to provide the information they asked for. From that my head knew who was considered a close contact and asked those colleagues and students to isolate.

There have been more cases in school, people I’ve had zero contact with. From what I hear lots of people are isolating now. No surprises really, I don’t know what else anyone expected?!

7 confirmed positive cases across different year groups in my ds's high school - only direct contacts told to isolate.

School sprayed with fogging machine last weekend

Like others have said - PHE do a rapid risk assessment and schools are told who to send home to isolate. Unless PHE are so overwhelmed they don't answer the phone, which I know first hand had happened. A local school was in the paper for deciding to send 4 year groups home because they could get hold of PHE and had to make a decision for themselves.

Thanks for all the replies. I'm glad that head teachers don't have to decide most of the time, but it's very worrying that PHE get so overwhelmed that they sometimes don't answer the phones, and that their guidance can be vague and contradictory

Slightly off topic but I thought PHE had been disbanded. I might have got it wrong but if they have been who is issuing this guidance?

As others have said, if there’s a confirmed case then the school contact Public Health England and they come in and take over the handling of matters.

Yes as others have said, PHE take all relevant information then advise the school in what to do.
My daughter's school has just told us all classes besides one year are self isolating from tomorow. It's a very small school and as far as the students know there were only 3 positive cases but of course something must have triggered this move from PHE so that is it.
Online lessons for 14 days it is.

A teacher at dds secondary school tested positive. He had taught across all the year groups. Public health were informed and said as social distancing had been maintained the school just needed an overnight deep clean. Nobody was sent home or asked not to come in other than the infected teacher.

We call PHE who assess each case and advise. Our year 10s had one case, on advise, we only sent home the pupils who within 2m of the pupil, the pupil who tested positive, and the pupils friends who she socialised with at break. We had 17 other pupils In school test positive within the week. Our year 8s had a positive case three days ago, as did our year 9s, we have been advised to send bother year groups hone completely.

However, the teachers who taught the classes don’t need to isolate. We don’t get corona virus apparently. (To make it clear - I don’t want to isolate I just don’t understand the reasoning behind it)

We sent home 30 pupils from a year group of 280 to self isolate after a positive case.
So just the pupils close contacts.
No staff affected as they hadn't been within 1m for more than a minute (aparently this is PHE guidance on what consitutues close contact).

PHE are utterly useless!! We’ve had 4 positive cases and each time their advice has changed! I have no faith in their advice at all and believe their latest decision for our school will result in many more cases.
They don’t treat bubbles as bubbles so what’s the point of a bloody bubble?

PHE are utterly useless!! We’ve had 4 positive cases and each time their advice has changed! I have no faith in their advice at all and believe their latest decision for our school will result in many more cases.
They don’t treat bubbles as bubbles so what’s the point of a bloody bubble?

Oh dear, the next 6 months or so are looking even more difficult now

Ds's school now has 8 confirmed pupil cases and 3 staff - still only direct contacts sent home. Apparently not an outbreak because they're across five year groups